Rafe K. had a normal life, that is until his mom’s work gets burnt down. Then he ends up moving to the big city for a new life at a school called Cathedral where everyone there is a stuck up snob.When an older kid named Zeke starts making fun of him Matty steps in to help. Will Rafe K. and Matty team up to finish Zeke off or will their plan backfire?

Hi! My name is Michael and I read Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky. Have you ever heard of Creepy Hollow? Imagine…if your parents were nice and kind, but then one day…they change..and turn mean and start to NEGLECT you! That’s what happens to Juniper Berry. The tree on the cover of the book is in Creepy Hallow. That’s what caused Juniper’s parents to change. They live in Creepy Hollow. Where the tree is.

Strangely enough Juniper finds a boy names Giles in the woods LOOKING for this hollow tree. The same thing happened to this boy’s parents and he thinks the tree has something to do with it! When they find the secret entrance to the tree, it’s up to Juniper and Giles to uncover the secret of their parents “success”..that is if they can resist the sweet temptations they encounter in their quest. Will they be able to break the curse of Creepy Hollow…and get their parents back? Read Juniper Berry to find out!

I love this book because it’s spooky and BONE SHAKING! I couldn’t put it down! A weird side note: I found it interesting that Juniper named her dog Kitty. Weird! I would recommend this book to all kids who like teeth-chattering books!

In A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler, Jenni and Autumn are like two peas in a pod. They find themselves on vacation in a wonderful hotel. Jenni thinks things just can’t go wrong…until she steps into an old elevator. When she comes out nothing seems the same. She goes to Autumn’s condo and is greeted by an old lady who has never heard of Autumn. When Jenni finally finds her, she is a “new and weird” Autumn. It also seems that Mikey, Autumn’s little brother, has had something horrible happen to him and Autumn blames Jenni. Jenni doesn’t remember anything and feels confused. She finally realizes that she traveled through time but when she tries to fix things by going back in the old elevator, things just get worse. Will Jenni ever get back into her own time and will she be able to stop the horrible thing that happens to Mikey?

I really liked this book because it was exciting and kind of mysterious. It was also a little sad and I like sad books sometimes. If you like sad books and books about friendship, read this book. I would also recommend it to any kid who likes to have their heart pound a mile a minute! -Maggie, grade 5

The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable by Dan Gutman is about two twins named Coke and Pepsi who set off on an ordinary cross-country vacation with their parents. But things take a strange turn when they find out they’re getting followed. Their lives are in serious danger…I mean trying not to get killed danger! And when they try to tell their parents what’s going on, Mom and Dad think they are joking around! Will Coke and Pepsi ever find out who these thugs are that are chasing them and why? Read this action packed mystery filled adventure to find out!

I really liked this book! It has some adventure with some mystery, plus lots of humor and suspense too. It reminded me of The Puzzling World of Winston Breen. If you like adventure, mystery, and humorous stories you should give this one a try! I think you will really enjoy it! The second book, The Genius Files: Never Say Genius just came out…and it ends with a cliff hanger you WON’T believe!

Chiengli is a 13-year-old orphan boy who lives in China in 630 A.D. For many years he was cared for by “Old Cook” a family friend. When she gives him a strange piece of jade with mysterious writing on it, Chengli begins to hear a “ghost” wind calling him to the deserts his father, an inspector who was murdered, once traveled. He gains a job as a camel boy with a caravan that is charged with delivering the Emperor’s spoiled daughter, Princess Mei Ling to her groom. Along the way Chengli makes friends with another camel boy, Fourth Brother but when he discovers Fourth Brother has a dark secret, Chengli must make a difficult choice. As he struggles with what do to about Fourth Brother, the caravan is attacked by bandits and Princess Mei Ling is kidnapped. Vowing to protect his family’s honor, Chengli sets off on his own to rescue the princess, discovering that the harsh winds and heat of the desert aren’t the most dangerous things he must deal with. To find out if Chengli is able to rescue the princess and honor his mission read this adventurous historical fiction story.

This book surprised me and wasn’t my first choice of books to read. I don’t normally like historical fiction but the author included just the right amount of adventure and mystery, which I love, to keep me reading. Even though the story started out a little slow at the beginning, I was drawn in by the ways the characters changed as the story continued. I would recommend this book to kids in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade even if historical fiction isn’t their favorite. The adventure and mystery will keep them hooked to the end!

We had 8 MSBA Book Club members join us at McArthur Public Library last night to learn how to create book trailers using Animoto! The workshop started with a yummy dinner of pizza and pier fries, then we got down to business! Mrs Dee walked us through how a book trailer is created. From choosing pictures, to what music to use, and choosing just the right words a lot of thought has to go into putting together a book trailer so that each piece helps “sell” the book to other readers. Deanna helped us understand the concepts of copyright and Fair Use rules to use images, music, and texts in appropriate ways.

Then the fun really began! Each MSBAer got their own Animoto account and started creating a book trailer for a book they’ve already read from the 2012-2013 MSBA Nominee List. After brainstorming some picture ideas on paper everybody just started searching and playing with the tools on the site. There were so many creative ideas buzzin’ around the room it was difficult to keep up! We didn’t quite get them finished so students will continue working on them at home and school. We hope to have some completed ones to share at our last MSBA Book Club meeting of this school year next Wednesday, May 23rd!